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SummerSlam (2008)
SummerSlam (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place Sunday on August 17, 2008, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It was the 21st annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The event featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first, featuring wrestlers from the SmackDown brand, saw The Undertaker defeat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match, a match that saw both men fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel cell. The other main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand, in which Batista defeated John Cena in a standard wrestling match. Three featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard match from SmackDown, WWE Champion Triple H defeated challenger The Great Khali to retain his title. Another was a standard match involving wrestlers the Raw brand, where World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defeated challenger John "Bradshaw" Layfield to retain his title. The ECW brand's sole contribution to the card saw Matt Hardy defeat ECW Champion Mark Henry by disqualification, as a result of WWE regulations, Hardy did not win the title as they can only be won via pinfall or submission. This was also the last SummeSlam to date to not have taken place in either Brooklyn or Los Angeles. Storylines The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before, during, and after the event were planned by WWE's creative staff. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands: storyline expansions of the promotion where employees are assigned to wrestling brands under the WWE banner. The main rivalry on the SmackDown brand was between Edge and The Undertaker. During 2008, the two had previously fought in four pay-per-view events over the World Heavyweight Championship. The two would finally face each other in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, a match in which any of these items can be used as weapons with the objective to climb a ladder and reach the title belt hanging above the ring, at One Night Stand for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. An additional stipulation was added to the match, in which, if The Undertaker should lose the match, he would be banished from WWE. Edge won the match, thus The Undertaker was forced to leave WWE as part of the storyline. On the July 18 episode of SmackDown, Edge and General Manager Vickie Guerrero held their scripted wedding reception. At the end of the show as Guerrero and Edge were in the ring, Triple H appeared to reveal Edge's secret love affair with Edge and Guerrero's wedding planner, Alicia Fox. During Edge and Triple H's match for the WWE Championship at The Great American Bash, both Guerrero and Fox would interfere, in the process Vickie got speared and the distraction gave Triple H the opportunity to retain his title. Despite an apology from Edge on the July 25 episode of SmackDown, Guerrero announced that she had reinstated The Undertaker and announced that he would face Edge at SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match. Another rivalry from the SmackDown brand was between Triple H and The Great Khali over the WWE Championship. On the July 25 edition of SmackDown, a Battle Royal was held, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match against Triple H at SummerSlam. Khali won the match, which also involved The Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga, and Montel Vontavious Porter. The primary rivalry on the Raw brand heading into SummerSlam was between John Cena and Batista. On the July 21 edition of Raw, Batista faced CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch from The Great American Bash. JBL ran into the ring, trying to avoid a vengeful John Cena. When Cena looked to punch JBL, he ducked and Batista was hit instead. Batista started a brawl against Cena and the two eventually fought until refs broke it up. The next week, Batista claimed that he had no problems with Cena, who had a hard time believing it. Later that night, Cena and Batista beat JBL and Kane in a tag-team match. New General Manager Mike Adamle announced that the two men would face off at SummerSlam, making it the first time ever that the two men had faced off against each other, a match that had been six years in the making. Both men won the World Tag Team Championship against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. in a tag team match. They lost the title a week later in a rematch. Another main feud on the Raw brand was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL became the number one contender for Punk's title, when he pinned Punk in a two-on-one handicap match, which also featured Chris Jericho as JBL's tag team partner. The main feud on the ECW brand was between Mark Henry and Matt Hardy over the ECW Championship. On the July 22 episode of ECW on Syfy, Hardy won the right to face Henry at SummerSlam after winning a Fatal Four-Way match against Finlay, The Miz and John Morrison. Aftermath ith Edge written out of action, The Undertaker's rivalry with him was re-focused towards one with the remaining members of La Familia. At the August 15 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero tried to apologize to Undertaker for her actions. Despite this, The Undertaker decided to launch an attack at La Familia. The following week saw Undertaker vow revenge on the stable. Both main event feuds for the Raw brand were set to continue at Unforgiven with each men involved in a new concept five-man match called the Championship Scramble match for the World Heavyweight Championship that would also involve Kane. It was later revealed, however, that the SummerSlam match between Cena and Batista left Cena with a legitimate herniated disc. Cena's injury saw him replaced in the match with Rey Mysterio. The SmackDown brand also featured its own Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven with Triple H defending his WWE Championship against The Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin, Montel Vontavious Porter and Jeff Hardy. In spite of this, Triple H's rivalry with The Great Khali continued when Triple H aided Jeff Hardy during his Scramble qualification match against Khali with a chair shot. A title rematch between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry was made at the next episode of ECW on Syfy, which Henry won from interference by Tony Atlas. Shortly afterward, ECW General Manager Theodore Long announced that ECW would have its own Championship Scramble at Unforgiven for the ECW Championship, which Hardy managed to qualify for along with The Miz, Chavo Guerrero, and Finlay. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:2008 Pay-Per-View Events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events